10 years ago, space shuttle Columbia lifted off for the last time

Space shuttle Columbia's final launch

Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel

Space shuttle Columbia and its 7-member crew lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 16, 2003. The mission would be the shuttle's last as the orbiter disintegrated upon re-entry 16 days later killing all aboard on Feb. 1, 2003.

Space shuttle Columbia and its 7-member crew lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 16, 2003. The mission would be the shuttle's last as the orbiter disintegrated upon re-entry 16 days later killing all aboard on Feb. 1, 2003. (Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel)

Angele Maraj, Orlando Sentinel

Ten years ago, space shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center on what would be its final mission. The launch seemed routine as seven astronauts were carried into space on a Thursday morning not aware they wouldn't be coming home.

"The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful day here," mission commander Rick Husband radioed to launch director Mike Leinbach just before liftoff. "We appreciate all of the hard work everyone has put into this, and we are ready to go."

The day of the launch was a celebration and a day of firsts. Astronaut Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli ever to travel into space, and the mission itself was to be the first of six planned for 2003 after two years of working through delays to get the program off the ground.

The date was Jan. 16, 2003. Sixteen days later the shuttle program's 113th mission overall would end in tragedy as the orbiter disintegrated upon re-entry on early Saturday morning Feb. 1 killing all aboard.

As debris fell to the earth across the state of Texas, NASA scrambled to contain the situation and figure out the cause of the shuttle malfunction. Much of the nation remained focused on the lives of the five men and two women that had been lost as a result.

Months later, investigators would determine that the cause of destruction was a chunk of insulating foam that had broken off from the shuttle’s external tank and hit the left wing during the launch, allowing superheated gases from the Earth’s atmosphere to permeate the wing and depressurizing the cabin upon re-entry.

The Columbia was the shuttle program's first orbiter, launching for the first time April 12, 1981. STS-107 was its 28th mission over nearly 22 years orbiting the Earth 4,808 times traveling more than 125 million miles and spending more than 300 days in space. Columbia carried 160 astronauts over its career including John Young, Charles Boldin, Shannon Lucid, Story Musgrave, Eileen Collins and Sen. Bill Nelson.

Columbia joined Challenger as the second disaster in the program's history, both of which took the lives of seven astronauts.

On the 10-year anniversary of the tragedy, what memories do you have of Columbia? Share them in the comments below.